Results tagged ‘ Derek Jeter ’

Pitching inside is part of Jeremy Guthrie’s game, a critical component that has helped the Orioles right-hander put together a resurgent 2010 season. But Yankees manager Joe Girardi doesn’t have to like it.

Following New York’s 11-3 rout of Baltimore on Saturday night, Girardi spoke out about Guthrie’s propensity for hit batsmen — which includes 10 Yankees since July 28, 2008 — his latest striking Derek Jeter’s left elbow with the first pitch of the game.

“[There’s] too many. Just too many,” Girardi said of Guthrie’s 13 hit batters, second in the Majors only to Yankees starter A.J. Burnett’s 16. “I don’t really understand it. I know he likes to pitch inside, but it’s too many. And that doesn’t include the ones in Spring Training.”

Guthrie plunked Mark Teixeira -who missed the several days following — and Francisco Cervelli in Grapefruit League action and Girardi also aired his frustrations this spring. When asked following Saturday’s game if he thought Guthrie was purposely hitting Yankees, Girardi said he didn’t know.

” You’ll have to ask him,” he said. “My thought is it’s way too many.”

Neither Jeter or Guthrie took offense to the first-pitch fastball that afforded Jeter first base, with the Yankees captain calling Guthrie “effectively wild” and saying he took no offense to being hit. Following Jeter’s plunking, neither bench was warned and home plate umpire Tony Randazzo didn’t deem it necessary to speak to Guthrie, furthering the case that it was accidental.

“[I was] just trying to go inside,” said Guthrie, who has made a conscious effort to be more aggressive this season. “Derek knows I am going to throw the ball in there all day long, that’s the way I approach it. So I guess it was a good indicator when I tried to throw the pitches away later on in the game they went inside and when I tried to throw that one inside it went way inside. So it’s just a matter of not having great command [on Saturday night.]”

“I don’t read anything into it all,” Jeter said of Guthrie’s pitch and tendency to hit more Yankees batters than any other Major League squad.

I prefaced this a little last night with Nick Swisher’s comment, but the Orioles play these last two games has certainly raised some eyebrows on the other side of the field.

And don’t think manager Buck Showalter isn’t taking these wins in the Bronx to heart. When asked about acting very businesslike in taking the series from his old team, Showalter responded: “Publicly, I do.”

Here are some comments from the Yankees regarding the very different Oriole team they’ve been beaten by the last two games.

Derek Jeter

“They’re playing well. I don’t know because I never switched managers in the middle of a season, but I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of guys over there trying to make an impression.”

CC Sabathia

“They’ve got a pretty good team. They’ve got some young talent over there. They’re trying to impress their manager. The fact that they got Roberts back and Jones came off the DL today, I think that definitely helped their lineup.”

Swisher, (following Monday afternoon’s loss)“Since they got the new manager over there, they’ve got a different style of play…They pitched a little differently [on Monday], a lot more offspeed.”

*In keeping with Swisher’s comments, the Orioles starters ERA in the first 105 games was 5.61. Under Buck’s 34 games, it’s 3.26. And the pitching staff as a whole owns a 3.57 ERA under their new manager. Several of the young arms have mentioned that they are “auditioning” and that certainly looks to be the case.

*The Orioles have won five straight road games now, dating back to the first game in Anaheim. They’ll try to extend that season-high mark to six games in Sunday’s finale.

Snubs- NL: In my opinion, the Padres should have at least one reliever already on the team. They have the best bullpen in baseball. Also, Joey Votto should get to go. Hopefully he can get the Final Vote because that’s a serious omission. I’m still undecided on whether Stephen Strasburg has enough starts/is deserving. AL: In the American League, Andy Pettitte was snubbed by his own manager,
Joe Girardi. Although I’m hearing rumblings that might change. How did Felix Hernandez get left off completely? And I haven’t seen him play, but I’ve certainly been impressed by the numbers from Tigers rookie Brandon Boesch.

I know it’s an inexact science, and the players did vote for the guys that made it. Still, it’s always fun to debate who was left out of this year’s All-Star game. I know Orioles fans wanted Nick Markakis to go, but honestly with his lack of power this season and an already crowded AS outfield he just didn’t have a shot.

Jake Arrieta’s here in Baltimore and, as I wrote earlier, will make his Major League debut tomorrow.

I spoke with him briefly tonight, and you get the sense that he almost relishes starting against the Yankees. Arrieta’s confidence is something the organization likes, and I think it’s almost necessary for survival as a young pitcher in the AL East. Brian Matusz carries the same sort of inner confidence. He’s a guy that says he trusts his stuff and you actually believe him. If the Orioles are going to start to turn the corner tomorrow, next week, or next year, they are going to need young guys like this- pitchers who would rather face the Red Sox and the Yankees than the Indians or the Royals.

Arrieta was well aware of who his opponent would be when he got the news in Norfolk Tuesday night. “It’s a lot bigger names in the box score, but it’s the same game,” he said. “Whether it’s A-Rod or some hitter from [Yankees Triple-A] Scranton, I have to approach [Thursday] like any other start.”

He said he wasn’t nervous yet, because everything had been such a whirlwind. But when he steps out on the mound at Camden Yards to face Derek Jeter, Arrieta acknowledged he’d have some butterflies. It’s only normal. Heck, even superhuman Stephen Strasburg admitted he was nervous for his debut.

Chris Tillman had a solid outing tonight. Arrieta has a chance to build on that and give the Orioles their first win against the Yankees since April 27. They’ve lost 10 in a row to New York since then.

Although that’s hardly the most sobering stat of the day, which is this: The Orioles had a lead for five innings on Wednesday night, marking the longest stretch they’ve had a lead since May 25 against Oakland.

It’s so unbelievable my old New York media buds had to ask me to confirm. Here’s hoping the O’s take care of that stat tomorrow.

Yankees captain Derek Jeter said the Yankees aren’t looking at the 15-36 Orioles and underestimating them.

“To be honest with you, I don’t think it makes a difference how somebody is playing when they come here. Teams like playing us,” Jeter said prior to Tuesday’s series opener. “They like coming here and playing, they like the challenge. I think a lot of times they get up for us. You can’t really pay attention to how someone was playing before they get here. I’m sure they’ll play us tough.”

Since it was a slow morning, I spent a
few minutes over in the Yankees clubhouse (where I spent a good portion of last
year) to say hello and ask about the Orioles. A few of the guys, like Nick
Swisher and Joba Chamberlain were impressed with the O’s young core.
It’s a hard division to come up in, Chamberlain acknowledged, but in signing
Kevin Millwood, they “couldn’t have got a better guy.”

Chamberlain said he spent a lot of his rookie
year just asking questions to the veteran Yankees, and when I told him that
Millwood’s locker is right among the young pitchers and he’s always chatting
and telling stories, Chamberlain smiled.

“That’s the best part of baseball,” he
said. “And [Millwood’s] been around.”

Derek
Jeter mentioned how he’s a fan of some of
the O’s young pitchers, and singled out how impressed he was in watching Adam
Jones last season. “Seems like he really made some adjustments too,”
Jeter said of Jones this spring.

The Yankees captain got to know Brian Roberts from the WBC last year,
and said he really liked how B-Rob approached the game.

“He plays the right way,”
Jeter said.

Some pretty nice stuff. Of course, Jeter (a huge Michigan fan) did wish my Spartans good luck (and poked fun at my green shirt). Now if only all the Maryland fans on this blog would follow that lead….

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